Taco Bell wants beef suit dismissed

SANTA ANA – Calling a lawsuit that questions the labeling of its taco filling as "enormously disparaging," Irvine-based Taco Bell is seeking to have the case dismissed.

In documents filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, the fast-food giant says the complaint fails for two reasons: one, it has no facts to support the assertions made, and two, USDA regulations do not apply to restaurant menus.

An Alabama law firm in January filed a federal class-action suit challenging Taco Bell's marketing that "the filling in many of its 'beef' food items is 'seasoned ground beef' or 'seasoned beef,' when in fact a substantial amount of the filling contains substances other than beef."

The false-advertising lawsuit caused an online stir by alleging the company's filling doesn't have enough beef to be called that. The lawsuit sought to make the company stop calling it "beef" and pay the suing law firm's bill.

Taco Bell reacted swiftly by taking out full-page ads in at least nine major newspapers across the country and launched a YouTube campaign featuring its president to proclaim its taco filling is 88 percent beef.

"Thank you for suing us," read the giant headline in the national advertising campaign in papers, including The Orange County Register, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.

"The claims made against Taco Bell and our seasoned beef are absolutely false," the full-page ad said. The ads went on to say the rest of the filling is a mixture of spices and common food additives.

The lawsuit alleges the meat mixture has binders and extenders and does not meet federal requirements to be labeled beef.

Attorneys at the Montgomery, Ala.-based law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles could not immediately be reached for comment on Taco Bell's filing.

"The complaint contains no factual 'information' at all that plausibly supports the conclusory 'belief' that a 'substantial majority' of Taco Bell's seasoned beef is not beef," the company says. Second, the claim that the company "has violated USDA regulations by using 'seasoned beef' in its product names and advertisements is flatly wrong."

"Taco Bell is not subject to those USDA labeling requirements; its suppliers are. Indeed, the regulations themselves expressly state that the labeling of restaurant items is outside the scope of the USDA's rules. There is no basis to claim that Taco Bell is liable for violating regulations when those regulations do not apply to it," the company said in court documents.

The plaintiff in the suit against Taco Bell is identified as Amanda Obney of California. The complaint says she has been harmed as a result of Taco Bell's "unfair conduct."